BLS with First Aid Course. The Basic Life Support or BLS training provides a wide variety of healthcare professionals the ability to recognize different life-threatening emergencies, such as choking, provide cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and use an automated external defibrillator (AED) in a safe, timely and effective manner. Basic life support can be provided by trained medical personnel, such as doctors, nurses, emergency medical technicians, paramedics, respiratory therapists, physical and occupational therapists, physician’s assistants, residents or fellows, or medical or nursing students in training, aides, medical or nursing assistants who have obtained BLS training. It is also useful for many other professions, such as daycare providers, coaches, teachers, personal trainers, security personnel and social workers. Their contact with many different people and their exposure to various circumstances where medical emergencies can occur make BLS training a good opportunity for acquiring basic lifesaving skills that may come in handy.

What is Basic Life Support?

Basic life support is the level of medical care given to patients with life-threatening conditions until they can be given full medical attention in a hospital. Therefore, it is generally used in the pre-hospital setting, and can be provided without medical equipment or drugs. Basic life support involves various life-saving techniques that focus on CAB of pre-hospital emergency care:

• Circulation – techniques which are done to maintain an adequate blood supply to vital organs, to ensure oxygen delivery to all cells and remove metabolic waste
• Airway – management of the victim’s airway to protect and maintain a clear passageway for gases between the lungs and the atmosphere.
• Breathing – maintenance of rhythmic inflation and deflation of the lungs  to ensure adequate respiration

BLS training provides healthcare providers enough confidence and skills necessary to give lifesaving aid to a person who needs emergency care due to injury or illness. Examples of life-threatening circumstances include heart attacks, stroke, choking, drowning, bleeding and more. Healthcare providers who complete BLS training receive a certification that is valid for two years. Renewal of certification may be required thereafter.

First Aid Training is typically provided by the American Heart Association (AHA), by local fire departments and other organizations. CPR Training School offers First Aid Training courses and instruction may include cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automated external defibrillator (AED) training or just first aid basics.

What is First Aid?

First aid is the initial care given to an injured or ill person by a non-expert but trained individual before medical help arrives or before the victim can be brought to a medical facility. However, some self-limiting illnesses or minor injuries may not require further medical care after effective first aid intervention. First aid generally consists of a series of simple techniques, sometimes potentially life-saving interventions, that an individual can be trained to perform with minimal equipment.  It aims to preserve life, prevent further harm and promote recovery. A first aid provider is someone with formal First Aid Training or education in emergency care or medicine who provides assessments and interventions which should be medically sound and based on scientific evidence or on expert consensus. An important component of first aid administration is that it must not delay activation of the emergency medical services (EMS) system or other medical assistance when required. First Aid Training involves learning basic skills needed to save a life or prevent an injury or illness from getting worse. These skills include the ABCs of first aid, which stands for Airway, Breathing and Circulation.